Customer Reviews

Death in a Nut

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I have read this book over and over and have told this story and recommended this book to many. I love the illustrations by Paul Hess and love the way the story is told by Eric Maddern. i think it is so poignant these days that kids in particular learn about death. We hide death, we prolong death, we try to ignore death, but it is there and it is all around us. I remember growing up seeing geese and chickens and bits of pig hanging in the butchers windows. We knew these animals died to feed us. Nowadays everything comes prepackaged and death and respect is absent. Pets die and grandparents die yet we try to shelter all this from kids. We need to show that death is important, that life ends and begins; it is a circle. This book does a great job at that and entertaining at the same time.
Hats off to Eric and Paul.

I think it's great that this story comes from a Scottish folktale and that the illustrations are so cool--the cottage is very inviting. Also, the important revelation that death is necessary for life is expressed quite clearly here, in a way young people will be able to understand. However, as I read the book, I couldn't help balking a little at some of the gory parts. Although the pictures don't display grotesque, bloody scenes (and the bloody details aren't spelled out in the text), I had to feel sorry for the animals everyone was trying to kill. The poor cockerel, for instance, not only had his neck wrung but also had his head cut off. Considering the fact that he lived, the experience had to be terrible beyond comprehension. So I wouldn't recommend this book for a very young audience, unless the audience members have already been exposed to the harsh realities of certain types of farm life.